Archiv: Ra´am (United Arab List) / member of first and renewed Joint List


26.05.2026 - 12:26 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Joint List Factions Ready to Form Alliance of Independent Parties Ahead of Elections.

According to Jabareen, “The dissolution of the Joint List in 2021 was a severe mistake that cost the Arab public political power and influence. Today, everyone understands this.” He added that despite ideological gaps with Ra’am, “The price of running separately will be unbearable—a drop in voter turnout and the continuation of the far-right rule.” He also emphasized that intensive talks are underway to reach agreements: “We are doing everything we can to bring hope back to our public.”

Representatives from Hadash and two Arab partiers, Balad, and Ta’al held a joint meeting last night to accelerate the reunification of the Joint List and remove obstacles toward an agreement. The three parties emphasized their consensus on core political issues and highlighted the importance of ongoing political and parliamentary coordination after the elections.

In a joint statement, the parties declared: “We would like Ra’am to be a partner in the political agreement, but we are aware of the significant gaps between our positions regarding the character and path of the Joint List. Nevertheless, recognizing the importance of unity against existential threats, the parties expressed willingness to reach an agreement with Ra’am based on a ‘technical joint list’ for the elections, aiming to raise voter turnout, strengthen Arab representation, and topple the far-right government.”

10.05.2026 - 08:15 [ MSN.com ]

Arab parties meeting to discuss reuniting into Joint List bloc

Last month, the Hadash party announced that it would promote direct dialogue with other Arab parties to explore the revival of the Joint List, which at its peak in 2015 and 2020 became the third-largest bloc in the Knesset and briefly held kingmaker influence.

The Hadash source said that several discussions have since taken place but that Monday’s was the first to be publicized, signaling “momentum.”

The bloc split due to internal fighting in 2021 when Mansour Abbas’s Islamist United Arab List (Ra’am) broke away and it collapsed the following year ahead of the 2022 election.

06.05.2026 - 21:57 [ Qoshe.com ]

Arab parties clash over delayed Joint List agreement, but deny breakdown in talks

(April 5, 2026)

While acknowledging that there was a “heated meeting,” the source added that “such disagreements are natural” and said that another meeting will take place in the coming weeks.

06.05.2026 - 21:49 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

MK Odeh: Will do Everything to Prevent Smotrich-Netanyahu-Ben Gvir from Continuing in Power

Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in his eyes”. MK Ayman Odeh, the chairman of Hadash-Ta’al parliamentary faction, also slammed Smotrich, declaring on X that “what the racists and Kahanists say is not important, what matters is what we will do.” “And we, the Arab citizens, together with the democratic Jews, will do everything, simply everything, to prevent Smotrich-Netanyahu-Ben Gvir from continuing to another term,” Odeh wrote.

06.05.2026 - 21:26 [ Times of Israel ]

Smotrich: Including Arab party in government ‘a thousand times’ worse than Oct. 7 failures

(May 5, 2026)

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sparked an uproar on Tuesday when he asserted that former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s decision to include the Islamist Ra’am party in his 2021-2022 government was far worse than the governmental failures tied to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, onslaught — the worst attack on civilians in Israeli history, which saw some 1,200 people murdered and 251 taken hostage, and which led to a multi-front war in which some 900 others have been killed.

Smotrich’s comments drew immediate condemnation from the opposition, with Ra’am chairman Mansour Abbas asserting that “human life holds no value in [his] eyes” and Bennett accusing the finance minister, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of “trying with all their might to make people forget the atrocities that occurred on their watch.”

28.04.2026 - 06:46 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

MK Cassif: “Right has found its right-hand man”

When asked if a government could be formed “without the support of MKs Ahmad Tibi or Aida Touma-Sliman” from the Hadash-Ta’al faction, Bennett replied: “We have a large majority even without them.” This statement comes despite a series of recent polls indicating that the Zionist parties opposing Netanyahu are unlikely to secure a majority without the support of Hadash and the Arab parties. (…)

Following the unification, Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the new “Yashar” party, called this morning for a meeting of opposition leaders excluding Hadash and Islamist Ra’am, “in order to ensure victory through Zionist and statesmanlike votes without Arabs.” In his announcement, Eisenkot mentioned the leaders of the “Together” list, Bennett and Lapid, as well as Yisrael Beiteinu chairman MK Avigdor Lieberman and The Democrats leader Yair Golan.

21.04.2026 - 17:51 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Hadash Announces Primary Elections and Push for Joint List Consolidation

During the session, political leaders, including the Communist Party of Israel Secretary-General Adel Amer and Hadash Secretary Amjad Shbita, addressed the regional political situation. Discussions centered on the fragile ceasefire, the risk of renewed war on Iran and Lebanon, and the concerning rise of internal fascism and ongoing occupation of Palestinian, Lebanese and Syrian territories.

“The establishment of the Joint List is not merely a tactical maneuver,” Hadash stated in an official communique. “It is a fundamental mission to shift the political balance of power and intensify the struggle against the occupation.” In addition to election preparations, Hadash leadership issued a formal call for public mobilization. Activists and supporters are urged to participate in International Workers’ Day events on Friday, May 1, in Tel Aviv, on Saturday, May 2 in Nazareth and other localities.

12.04.2026 - 01:57 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

New Poll: The Joint List Becomes the Third-largest Faction in the Knesset

Channel 13 also asked respondents how they would vote if Hadash and three Arab parties, Ra’am, Ta’al and Balad, ran together as the Joint List, as they have done in the past. In such a scenario, the Joint List would become the third largest parliamentary faction, with sixteen seats. Likud would shrink to 20 and Religious Zionism would rise to six, giving Netanyahu’s coalition a total of 53 seats, and Bennett’s party would shrink to 20 while Yashar Eisenkot’s and Democrats Golan’s parties would drop to eleven and seven, respectively, giving the Zionist opposition bloc a total of 51 seats. Hadash and the Arab parties pledged earlier this year to work to reestablish the Joint List, with little signs of progress.

08.02.2026 - 18:41 [ Dan Perry / Jerusalem Post ]

Will Israel’s Arabs reach the political Promised Land? – opinion

The trend in Arab politics is for the four main existing parties to reorganize as a “Joint List” for this year’s election. The aim is to both maximize turnout and prevent wasted votes (because of Balad, nearly 3% of ballots were thrown away last time, and together with a similar situation in Meretz, this handed victory to Netanyahu). Such a list is expected to win 15 seats or more, and even if it splits after the election, some of its components will want to participate in the government. If it’s formed by the opposition, support among Arabs would be overwhelming.

06.02.2026 - 21:03 [ Abed Abou Shhadeh / +972 Magazine ]

What the Joint List’s revival signifies for Palestinian politics in Israel

(January 28, 2026)

This is a historic event in a volatile political moment. Even before the publication of polls gauging the Joint List’s electoral strength — predicting that it could secure 15-16 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, making it the third largest force in Israeli politics — the popular demand for unity suggests the possibility for unprecedented voter turnout in Arab society.

Israeli news outlets described the renewal of the Joint List as “drama in the political system,” and rightly so. Such a scenario would alter the balance between opposing blocs and force Zionist parties across the spectrum — from Yair Golan’s center-left Democrats to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud — to recalibrate their strategies.

06.02.2026 - 20:53 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Polls: Joint List Wins 14-15 Seats

Polls show the Joint List gaining strength and win 14 to 15 seats in the next Knesset. Wednesday’s Channel 13 survey sees far-right PM Netanyahu’s Likud party gaining one seat and the Jont List win 15. As with previous surveys, without the Joint List parties’ support, both blocs fall short of securing the required 61-seat majority to form a ruling coalition

According to another poll, published on Thursday by the Zman Israel website, Joint list of Hadash and three Arab parties would win 14 of the Knesset’s 120 seats if elections were held today, continuing to prevent a parliamentary majority from the Zionist opposition parties.

23.01.2026 - 19:38 [ NewArab.com ]

Israel: Arab parties agree to revive Joint List ahead of Knesset election

„The Joint List could become the second or third largest party in the Knesset in terms of size and representation, forming a parliamentary bloc capable of achieving far more than any small party acting alone,“ he added.

Efforts to re-establish the Joint List have been underway for some time. In August, The Times of Israel reported that party leaders were holding talks aimed at reviving the alliance, amid frustration over Israel’s war on Gaza and a desire to increase the political influence of Palestinian citizens of Israel.

23.01.2026 - 19:30 [ Middle East Eye ]

Palestinian parties in Israel agree to revive Joint List ahead of elections

The pledge document, entitled „Joint List Now“, was signed by Sami Abu Shehadeh, head of the National Democratic Assembly (Balad); Ayman Odeh, head of the Hadash alliance; Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change (Ta’al); and Mansour Abbas, head of the United Arab List (Ra’am).

The parties first formed the Joint List in 2015 to run on a shared platform representing Palestinian citizens of Israel.

19.09.2025 - 03:05 [ +972 Magazine ]

Israel’s opposition is plotting a return to power. But it remains its own worst enemy

Yet such promises count for little at a time when Israel’s current government continues to bomb, shell, and starve Palestinians in Gaza, all while taking rapid steps toward formally annexing the West Bank. Nor has the opposition — neither its parliamentary representatives, like the Democrats, or the protest movement in the streets — shown the ability to turn growing discontent over the government’s handling of the war and abandonment of the hostages into a full-throated defense of Palestinians’ humanity.

Until they do, it is hard to imagine just how different the next government, whoever comprises it, will be when it comes to the prospect of peace and equality for all the people in this land.

02.09.2025 - 19:23 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Negotiations to Reestablish the Joint List

Hadash and three Arab parties Ra’am, Ta’al, and Balad are negotiating to reestablish the Joint List bloc ahead for the next elections. “The atmosphere during the meeting on Sunday was really good,” MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash-Ta’al) told The Jerusalem Post. During the meeting, Hadash-Ta’al presented a “road map toward the Joint List” who included a detailed three-phase process for the reestablishing the list.

03.07.2025 - 01:25 [ Orly Noy / +972 Magazine ]

The Knesset vs Ayman Odeh

On Monday, the Knesset House Committee voted to impeach Palestinian parliamentarian Ayman Odeh, head of the predominantly Arab Hadash-Ta’al list. His crime? In January, as the two-month Gaza ceasefire came into effect, Odeh tweeted: “I am happy about the release of the [Israeli] hostages and [Palestinian] prisoners. From here, both peoples must be freed from the yoke of the occupation. We were all born free.”

As I watched the committee’s hearing, I felt like my eyes were bleeding. It was physically unbearable. Knesset members from across the political spectrum — who aren’t worthy of the dust on Odeh’s shoes when it comes to humanism, morality, and democratic integrity — competed to see who could spew the vilest rhetoric against him.

No one paid attention to the Knesset’s legal adviser — who, after the obligatory lip service condemning Odeh’s “disgusting statements,” concluded that there was no legal basis for his impeachment. And it goes without saying that no one listened to Odeh’s attorney, Dr. Hassan Jabareen, who explained why the proposal was procedurally flawed, legally unsound, and morally bankrupt.

From the first sentence to the last, the hearing was a farce.

03.07.2025 - 01:07 [ Jerusalem Post ]

MK Ayman Odeh decries Knesset House Committee as ‚fascist‘ after impeachment vote

The impeachment was not just a response to specific statements but directed against “Odeh as a person and everything he represents,” Boaron said in his closing argument. At the end of the hearing, committee chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) said Odeh was a “bitter enemy” of Israel, and in a “normal country,” he would “rot in jail.”

Only Ra’am MK Waleed Taha and Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi voted against his impeachment.

08.06.2025 - 20:27 [ Ynetnews.com ]

Negotiations underway to reunite Arab parties: ‚Oust Netanyahu, Smotrich and Ben Gvir’s government‘

(June 3, 2025)

Amid talks about a possible early election triggered by the controversy over the exemption law from military service, interest is growing among Arab parties inside and outside the Knesset. In recent weeks, quiet negotiations have been underway to unite all the Arab parties: Ra’am, Hadash, Ta’al and Balad. The goal is to replicate the dramatic success of the Joint List in the March 2020 Knesset elections, when it won 15 seats.

24.05.2025 - 00:55 [ +972 Magazine ]

What can the Joint List teach us about building Palestinian political power?

Yet Israel’s political chaos between 2019 and 2022, marked by five consecutive elections and an electorate divided almost evenly between pro- and anti-Netanyahu camps, gave the Joint List an unexpected second life. Reconstituted ahead of the September 2019 vote, it immediately regained its 13 seats. Then, in March 2020, it achieved a historic milestone, becoming Israel’s third-largest party with 15 seats — the highest ever for Palestinian representation. Turnout rebounded, while support for Zionist parties among Palestinian voters collapsed from 28 percent to just 12 percent.

25.10.2024 - 16:00 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Netanyahu’s Far-right Coalition Decided to Ban Hadash

Netanyahu’s coalition decided to ban Hadash and is still unclear which legislation will be used to ban Islamic Ra’am party. This is done under the false accusation of “support for terrorism”.

According to the political correspondent Daphna Liel of Channel 12 at the beginning of next the week, a bill by the chairman of the coalition, MK Ofir Katz (Likud), will be brought to the legislative committee to allow the disqualification of lists and Arab members of the Knesset.

The bottom line of the bill is proof of “mass manifestations of support for terrorism” will no longer be required and it will be possible to be satisfied in individual cases to disqualify a candidate and a list.

28.03.2023 - 06:52 [ Haaretz ]

Israel‘s Opposition Overtakes Netanyahu Bloc to Reach Majority, Polls Show

According to the polls, conducted by Channel 12 and public broadcaster Kan, if an election were held today, the parties that make up the current ruling coalition – Netanyahu’s Likud, Religious Zionism, Otzma Yehudit, Shas and United Torah Judaism – would amass a total of just 54 seats, seven short of the 61 seats needed for a majority in the 120-seat Knesset. The opposition, made up of National Unity, Yesh Atid, Yisrael Beytenu, Meretz, Ra’am and Labor, is projected to win 61 seats. Hadash-Ta’al would garner the remaining five seats.

20.11.2022 - 15:36 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Islamist Ra’am Will ‘Leave Door Open to Dialogue’ With Incoming Far-right Coalition

(15.11.2022)

The Islamist Ra’am party stressed on Sunday that although it sits in the opposition, it will not necessarily vote in line with the bloc that opposes incoming prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will keep the channels of communications open with the next far-right and racist coalition, specifically when it comes to matters that concern Arab-Palestinian communities in Israel.

27.10.2022 - 02:35 [ MSN.com ]

This Election Poll Made the Israeli Left Panic, as It Should

In the early stages of the campaign, when parties could still merge with others, Lapid begged Merav Michaeli, the leader of Labor, to join forces with Meretz. Even the James Webb telescope would fail to find ideological differences between the two parties. Michaeli, whatever her reasons may have truly been, shot down the idea. Now she could enter history books as the first Labor leader to remain beneath the threshold, and outside the Knesset.

24.10.2022 - 07:36 [ KnessetJeremy.com ]

9 Days to Election – KnessetJeremy Polling Average: Likud 31.6, Yesh Atid 24.3, Smotrich 13.4, Gantz 11.6, Shas 8.1, UTJ 7; Blocs Deadlocked

(October 23, 2022)

Smotrich made the most significant gain with a 0.6 jump. Liberman’s Yisrael Beitenu went up for the second straight week, this time by 0.3.

Likud dropped for the second consecutive week, this time by 0.5. Gantz also went down this week, this time by 0.3. Lapid’s Yesh Atid also lost 0.1.

Overall, we remain stuck at a 60-60 deadlock between the two blocs.

02.10.2022 - 15:45 [ Communist Party of Israel ]

Hadash-Ta’al Slams Lapid, Michaeli for Refusing to Block Barring of Arab Parties

Hadash-Ta’al commented on the Central Election Commission’s decision to disqualify Balad’s candidacy for the 25th Knesset. “The decision to disqualify Balad is an unfortunate decision. [Benny] Gantz, [Yair] Lapid and [Meirav] Michaeli proved that they are right-wing in disguise. Despite the anger of the racists who want to keep the Arabs away from the polling stations, on election day we all flock to the polling stations.”

02.10.2022 - 15:41 [ Times of Israel ]

Elections panel blocks Balad party’s run for Knesset, against AG’s advice

Balad and several of its lawmakers have been disqualified by past elections panels, and have so far won every appeal to the High Court to be reinstated. The party is expected to make a similar appeal to return to November’s contest following Thursday’s disqualification.

Earlier on Thursday, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara released a letter to the committee stating that there was no basis for disqualifying either Balad or the Islamist Ra’am party. The panel ultimately cleared Ra’am’s path to the ballot box, dismissing petitions that alleged the party supported terrorist organizations.

02.10.2022 - 15:33 [ Times of Israel ]

Israel: Balad banned from election run, Ra‘am qualifies

(29.09.2022)

Despite appeals filed alleging that Ra‘am „supports terrorism,“ the vote to allow their running passed 14-0, with representatives from Likud, the Religious Zionist Party, Yesh Atid, and Labor not present.
Israel‘s Defense Minister Benny Gantz of the National Unity Party ruled on Thursday that all of his party representatives on the election committee will vote to disqualify Balad from running for parliament.